Health officials in Kansas have issued an emergency license suspension to close the Mi Ranchito restaurant in Lenexa after at least 20 customers fell ill while eating -- possibly from carbonic acid poisoning in carbonated water.

The Mi Ranchito food poisoning outbreak occurred Sunday about 6 p.m. News media reported that nine ambulances were called to the scene and a dozen patrons were taken to the hospital for treatment. They had become nauseous, feverish, dizzy and were vomiting.

Jennifer Bustos-Gomez, an operations director for the restaurant, told reporters that the Mi Ranchito outbreak was the result of carbonated water backing up and coming into contact with copper tubing. The same thing reportedly happened a couple of weeks ago and five people went to the hospital. She said the problem is being fixed.

But a spokeswoman from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the restaurant won't reopen until tests confirm what caused the sudden outbreak of illness. The last time it happened, the problem wasn't bacterial.

Mi Ranchito compensation consultation forms are being accepted by national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen attorneys. Call a food poisoning lawyer at the firm, 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free).

We are one of the few law firms in the country with deep experience handling foodborne illness litigation against restaurants, food companies, caterers, grocery stores and meat producers. Over the years, we have collected tens of millions of dollars for victims of food poisoning of all types.

If you or a loved one were sickened in the Mi Ranchito carbonic acid outbreak, you may have a claim against the restaurant for recovery. Pritzker Olsen has the experience and resources that make it one of the country's leading firms in this complicated area of law.

Labels: food poisoning lawyer

Fred Pritzker, founder and president of national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, has cast a critical eye on the results of a report produced by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Emerging Infections Program. While the report's central message is that we as a society aren't getting any better at controlling food poisoning, Pritzker found data that suggests the problem runs deeper. Here is his report:

The Federal government’s Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) recently released preliminary data about the frequency of certain foodborne illnesses in 10 monitoring states for the year 2008. This is the equivalent of the government’s report card for food safety. The scores, as they say, leave much room for improvement.

The “take away” point from this data is that “progress toward the national health objectives [for foodborne pathogens] has plateaued, suggesting that fundamental problems with bacterial and parasitic contamination are not being resolved.”

My comment [and their goal] is simply: “No Shit.”

Stripped of its “journal speak,” the data shows that after making progress for a few years, efforts to safeguard our food have gone nowhere.

"The lack of recent progress toward the national health objective targets and the occurrence of large multistate outbreaks points to gaps in the current food safety system and the need to continue to develop and evaluate food safety practices as food moves from the farm to the table."

A closer reading of the data actually points to more serious problems. For example, in just one year (from 2007 to 2008), test samples of ground beef yielding E. coli O157:H7 nearly doubled from 0.24% to 0.47%. This is really quite shocking.

It was also interesting to note that only 25.7% of E. coli O157:H7 infections and 7.4% of Salmonella cases are associated with outbreaks. In other words, in the vast majority of human illness associated with these two pathogens, the source is never identified.

In a way, this is even more shocking. It shows we’re still very inadequate when it comes to testing for and analyzing foodborne pathogens – in other words, what we don’t know will hurt us.

Labels: campylobacter lawsuit, clostridium botulinum, food poisoning lawyer, salmonella attorney

A paramedic unit sent to a restaurant in Raleigh, North Carolina, called for backup once the crew realized there were too many sick people to handle.

According to a story in the Independent Weekly newspaper, nine rescuers ultimately attended to victims. Now the Wake County Environmental Health and Safety Division is investigating -- but the division's director isn't saying yet which restaurant is involved.

"We don't have any results yet,'' Andre Pearce told the weekly.
But the newspaper checked with the Raleigh-Wake 911 Center and found that an emergency call came shortly before 10 p.m. Friday for paramedics to help someone at Evoo, a Mediterranean style restaurant in Raleigh's Five Points.

The newspaper said some of the ill restaurant patrons were taken to the hospital.

National food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., is waiting for the results of the investigation to determine what happened. The firm is involved in virtually every major foodborne illness outbreak and has collected large sums on behalf of people injured or killed by adulterated food.

To contact a food poisoning lawyer at PritzkerOlsen, call 1-800-888-377-8900 (toll free) or complete a free online case consultation form.

Labels: food poisoning lawyer, food regulation, food safety

In response to a new government report on food poisoning, national food safety lawyer Fred Pritzker has written an opinion column. Pritzker is founder and president of PritzkerOlsen, P.A., a firm that is involved in virtually every major outbreak of foodborne illness, representing victims in wrongful death lawsuits and compensation claims. The firm has a toll-free telephone number for reaching a food poisoning lawyer: 1-888-377-8900. PritzkerOlsen also has free case consultation forms available online.

By FRED PRITZKER

The CDC recently issued its report entitled “Preliminary FoodNet Data on the Incidence of Infection with Pathogens Transmitted Commonly Through Food --- 10 States, 2008.” (MMWR April 10, 2009 / 58(13);333-337).

This innocuous sounding document is statistical confirmation of what food safety lawyers already know: our food safety system needs improvement. As the report’s editorial note states:

Despite numerous activities aimed at preventing foodborne human infections, including the initiation of new control measures after the identification of new vehicles of transmission (e.g., peanut butter--containing products), progress toward the national health objectives has plateaued, suggesting that fundamental problems with bacterial and parasitic contamination are not being resolved.

Although significant declines in the incidence of certain pathogens have occurred since establishment of FoodNet, these all occurred before 2004. Of the four pathogens with current Healthy People 2010 targets, Salmonella, with an incidence rate of 16.2 cases per 100,000 in 2008, is farthest from its target for 2010 (6.8).

The lack of recent progress toward the national health objective targets and the occurrence of large multistate outbreaks point to gaps in the current food safety system and the need to continue to develop and evaluate food safety practices as food moves from the farm to the table.

I represent the families of three of the nine fatalities associated with the most recent national Salmonella outbreak involving Peanut Corporation of America. The loss of these three senior citizens (together with the other six deaths and thousands of injured people) is a national tragedy.

Sadly, it is but one of many outbreak before and since (following the peanut recall, there have been other national Salmonella outbreaks including sprouts, pistachio nuts and spices.

What’s truly scary about this merry-go-round of death and illness is the fact of its inadvertence.

No one intended to adulterate and sell Salmonella-laden food. If we cannot prevent and easily detect negligent outbreaks, how in the world are we going to reduce the risk of weaponized foodborne illness?

There are huge gaps in our current food safety system. Like anything else, you get what you pay for. If you want safer food, you have to develop a science-based system and then support it with enough money and manpower to make it work.

Labels: food poisoning lawyer, food safety attorney, salmonella death lawsuit

Colorado Campylobacter Outbreak: On April 7, 2009, the Colorado Dept. of Health has reported 11 cases of Campylobacter (campylobacteriosis) that may be associated with raw milk from Kinikin Corner Dairy in Montrose, Colorado. The Colorado Department of Health is advising consumers not to drink raw milk from Kinikin Corner Dairy at this time. Read about a Kinikin Corner Dairy Campylobacter lawsuit.

Minnesota Campylobacter Outbreak: In March of 2009, The Minnesota Department of Health reported a Minnesota Campylobacter outbreak asociated with Chipotle in Apple Valley. Several people were sickened. We are representing a woman who became seriously ill after eating at the Apple Valley Chipotle. Read about a Minnesota Chipotle Lawsuit.

Labels: Campylobacter, campylobacter lawsuit, food poisoning lawyer, illinois campylobacter, lawyer

A New York company is recalling 114,540 pounds of concentrated chicken base products because they were ineligible for import to the United States from China.

In a news release today by the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, the agency said the products distributed nationwide by Perk-up Inc., of White Plains, New York, did not meet inspection requirements and weren't exempt from inspection.

The products being recalled are:

• 5-pound pails of "PANDA BRAND CHICKEN BASE CONCENTRADO DE CALDO DE POLLO." Each container also bears the case code "2700031."
• 5-pound bags of "PANDA BRAND CHICKEN BASE CONCENTRADO DE CALDO DE POLLO." Each package also bears the case code "2700200."

The chicken base products were imported from China on various dates from May 2008 to September 2008. No illnesses have been reported in connection with the food safety recall.

Labels: E coli lawyer, food poisoning lawyer

More than 80 people were sickened by food poisoning at a recent choir competition at Papillion-La Vista High School in eastern Nebraska.

Labels: food poisoning lawyer

Attorney Fred Pritzker has settled an E. coli wrongful death case linked to fresh spinach. The terms of the settlement are confidential. The case involved an elderly woman who ate spinach contaminated with E. coli. The woman was diagnosed with E. coli O157:H7 poisoning, and genetic fingerprinting tests connected her case of E. coli O157:H7 with the 2006 E. coli outbreak linked to fresh spinach.

Fred Pritzker was interviewed by a local television station regarding the case. He also wrote an editorial regarding the outbreak addressed food safety issues.

Labels: E coli kidney failure, E coli lawyer, food poisoning lawyer